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Unsolicited advice

The surprisingly early end to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s corruption trial is “bleeping golden” news to Illinois Democrats — and even some national Democrats — who dreaded the prospect of a verdict coming just before Election Day, Nov. 2.

“Democrats should be cheering and partying in the streets about the fact that the trial is over,” said Democratic consultant Kitty Kurth. “I know my friends on the Republican side will still have plenty of things they’ll be criticizing Democrats about, but this will give them one less piece of ammunition.

“The Republicans will still talk about the trial, but at least it won’t be in the newspapers and on the radio and on people’s television every night.”

This will all be back “on the air” when Republicans start running advertisements. And that’s what people see and remember the most anyway.

Gov. Pat Quinn flew to southern Illinois on the state plane Monday where he attended two campaign-related events, threw out the first pitch at a minor-league baseball game and toured a construction project at Southern Illinois University.

A campaign spokeswoman insisted Tuesday that the governor was not using state resources for political gain when he made the two campaign-related stops.

“Bottom line, he was there as the governor of the state for an event at SIU and to throw out the first pitch at the baseball game,” campaign spokeswoman Mica Matsoff said. “While in town, he stopped by two additional events with various constituents, including colleagues, party folks and supporters.”

“He most certainly did not use the state plane for any political purpose,” Matsoff said.

Castle and Kirk, for example, were helpful allies to Democrats after they captured control of the House in 2006.

They both voted for several proposals of the legislative agenda Democrats campaigned on to oust Republicans from power. In January of 2007, they voted to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission; to increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour; and to repeal tax cuts to oil companies and mandate they pay fees for removing oil from the Gulf of Mexico.

They also voted in 2007 for a measure opposing President George W. Bush’s plan to increase troops in Iraq, and sponsored a $35 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Senate Republicans, weary of life in the minority, are too excited about Castle, Kirk and other centrists winning Democratic seats to quibble about their records. Republicans would need to win 10 seats in order to capture the majority.

On the other hand, why are you making such a big deal out of your partisan, conservative bona fides when bipartisan moderation could woo some more votes? Or am I wrong? I’d like to know.

An alliance of social-services providers has just received and passed on to me results of a Freedom of Information Act request it submitted to Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes’ office.

The list details who’s owed what. In particular, down to the cent, the data being released by Illinois Partners for Human Services lists $490,314,860.75 owed to tax-exempt, non-profit organizations —many of them certified charities that lead a precarious life in the best of times.

A stunning 136 groups are owed at least $1 million each, with the outstanding IOUs stretching back as far as December 2009, according to the comptroller’s office.

Far be it from me to discourage your use of a subscriber firewall, but I think you’re missing the point. You’ve got this new thing called “First in Print,” where you don’t publish some stories online. Some of those stories are kind of interesting to me. Recently you teased us with this on the front page of your site…

The building that houses Norb Andy’s Tabarin on Capitol Avenue has been sold—again. Read more about the new owners in a story only available in today’s print edition of The State Journal-Register.

OK, that’s an establishment where I sometimes find myself, so I was interested in seeing who the new building owners were. But here’s what I saw when I clicked on the link that took me to the “First in Print” page…

The building that houses Norb Andy’s Tabarin on Capitol Avenue has been sold—again.

The recent purchase by David Ridenour, who with David Schmitz also runs the Rippon Kinsella House bed-and-breakfast, 1317 N. Third St., marks the fourth time since 1991 that the Hickox Building, which contains Norb Andy’s, has been sold, according to Sangamon County property records. This time, the sellers took a loss.

That’s all I really wanted to know. Thanks much for the freebie.

Remember, a little less info when you’re trying to upsell. Just sayin’.

In a courtroom with fewer than 20 friends and family, attorneys Tuesday closed out, for the second time, the case against former Chicago Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez and city worker Aaron DelValle. Jurors will begin their deliberations Wednesday following the two-week trial, the second time Sanchez and DelValle have been tried on charges they helped organize patronage hiring of members of the politically powerful Hispanic Democratic Organization.

From the US Attorney at 3:11 this afternoon…

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie Porter and Manish Shah will be available at 3:30 p.m. today in the Dirksen Courthouse lobby to comment on the guilty verdicts just returned against retired Chicago Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez and co-defendant Aaron DelValle.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jul 21, 10 @ 3:03 pm

Comments

the prime minister of england flew over here on a commercial flight but the governor of illinois needs a private aircraft for a minor league baseball game.

The Blagojevich trial is almost over and it won’t be on the TV anymore. Good news for Democrats. Maybe now the TV reporters will start filling the newscasts with all the good things that are happening in Illinois.

Would the old Pat Quinn even recognize new Pat Quinn the politician? Does Betsy kinda squirm in your sweaty hands like a kid being held by a disliked relative? Are you now calling her the “football”, since it is evident you don’t use a hairbrush? What else did you trade in when you traded your old motel discount card for a frequent flyer card on Illinois One. Pat me boy we hardly know ya.

The unpaid bills are immoral. The non-profit community has effectively loaned almost $500 million to the state and those providers are paying the interest on that loan. And that number is growing. Everyday.

>On the other hand, why are you making such a big deal out of your partisan, conservative bona fides when bipartisan moderation could woo some more votes? Or am I wrong? I’d like to know.

John McCain did exactly what you said Republicans should do, and he didn’t win, and a lot of other Republicans who did the same thing. Conservatives are now the largest voting block now at 42% vs. 37% of those who are moderates vs. 20% of liberals. No Republican can win without that 42% of the voting pool period.

From the Pantagraph article:
“Quinn’s mixing of politics and official state business is similar to what former Gov. Rod Blagojevich did in 2008, when he flew in the state plane to a state event in Mount Vernon, but also set aside time to raise money from local bankers.”

Considering that the travel to both of the scheduled events was nonessential the governor’s excuse is ludicrous. The guv’s message to other state employees again does not apply to his own actions.

Seriously, can the electorate nullify the coming election? Four more years of Quinn are looking an awful lot like 8 years of Bush.

“From the Pantagraph article:
‘Quinn’s mixing of politics and official state business is similar to what former Gov. Rod Blagojevich did in 2008, when he flew in the state plane to a state event in Mount Vernon, but also set aside time to raise money from local bankers.’”

When you have your “hand-picked, not ‘marshmellow’, true candidate” for Sos file with less than 4Gs, do not expect the rank and file to take you seriously when you claim to be putting the “best ticket possible” together. At least Plummer comes with a checkbook.

Make a true deal with Lisa so you can get something out of all this fiasco. You are just one reporting period away from being the GOP SoS nominee (I do not want to even put his name in a post, he can’t even afford a 1/4 page in the PennySaver!). Be smart, don’t trust the guys who put you up to this. At least Madigan has something for you TO get.

Dear “Media”, Facebookers, bloggers, etc.
If you have been watching the trashing Fox is getting today it be a lesson that prereporting the news ( i.e. get only some info and rushing it forward) is a truly bad idea.
The 24 hr news cycle really serves no useful purpose for anyone.

>I hope your friends on the Right don’t see this…
>Castle and Kirk, for example, were helpful allies to Democrats after they captured control of the House in 2006.

WE ARE aware of it. The difference is Castle hasn’t secured the nom yet, Kirk already has. We’re stuck with him unless a strong third-party candidate has a chance to win. In the meantime we just have to hold his feet to the fire so he does the right thing and act far less like a RINO.

==Brady’s next ad kinda writes itself==
This would have to be one of the most-fun jobs in Illinois today….getting a barrage of ads ready to run once the guilty verdict(s) is(are) read. Q. How many clips are there of Quinn with Blago? A. We’re about to find out!

Stop using the “where’s Brady’s plan?” line of attack for the budget or anything else. Your, er, um, plan is not so great as we have seen and certainly nothing to crow about.

I don’t know Brady, but unlike your plan for governing Illinois, I gather that his plan does NOT consist of any of the following:

1. Giving out overly generous pay raises to his guv office staff while at the same time cutting funding for state programs for the disabled, infirmed and elderly under the guise of “shared sacrifice”;

(as was reported in the one of the news tabs yesterday, why is David Vaught making $6,000 more than the Gingre Ostro, the person who previously held the budget director title? Why is Quinn paying a man more than a woman for the same job? Don’t patronize women by talking about how much you are supportive of women’s issues, be about it in action—in everything you do, otherwise you look like a hypocrite and phony. And, I for one would seriously like an explanation as to why Vaught makes more than Ostro for the same job.)

2. Using taxpayer money for his own political largess (e.g., using a taxpayer funded state plane to go on fly arounds to campaign) ;

3. Hiring/promoting only the friends and family of his political friends during the worst fiscal crisis in Illinois history, and bloat state government with more patronage workers who are simply drains on taxpayer resources.

4. Releasing dangerous criminal felons early from prison, and then trying to hide the truth about it;

5. Fiddling with ribbons cuttings and promising money Illinois does not have hoping that voters won’t notice that the state is burning as a result of massive deficits and (recent past and current) poor executive office management of the state;

6. Screwing the middle class with a tax increase, by giving them nothing in return for it.

P.S.,

During a time of great economic crisis in Illinois, while you are calling for “shared sacrifice” and lecturing Alexi G. and Bill Brady on paying taxes that they were legally and legitimately exempt from paying, perhaps you ought not have doled out extravagent payraises and used a taxpayer funded airplane for your political campaigning.

It’s hard for Republicans to make a lot of hay when Republican pooh-bahs were among the ones really cashing in. Blago looks like a piker compared to GOP’ers like Kjellander, Cellini, and Levine. And Cellini’s trial is still coming up. Hopefully it will be more interesting.

Illinois political history is full of sinners and saints on both sides of the aisle.

You think the Dem. crooks or GOP crooks chose their party affiliation on issues like stem cell research? Keynesian vs. Chicago School economics?

Party and issues meant nothing. Depending on who they were and where they came from, they made their choices based on the quickest way to the trough. Only the very naive or loony partisans can’t see the obvious.

Just sayin: That post is utterly delusional. Talk about whistling past the graveyard. If you’re contending that the Blagojevich trial is not good for Republicans and no hay can be made of it, I’m hoping you are working on Quinn’s campaign. Brady should use it all summer and fall.

Brady ties Quinn to his running mate Blagojevich and Quinn can tie Brady to Cellini the insider businessman. Which do you think is more effective?

Dear Jurors, repeat after me: we find the defendant guilty and his lawyers obnoxious. We find Mayor Daley guilty too, so don’t even bother bringing him here, just take him to the slammer and leave him there.

And Rich, I am a subscriber to the SJR but can’t even access first in print online. You have to read it in the paper unless it’s changed. I emailed SJR weeks ago to complain because I travel and often leave the house before the paper arrives.

Deep down Chicagoans, Illinoisans and the world know that you love Chicago. There’s no doubt about it—Chicago is in your blood! Because you love the city so much, you need to let go. You’re being selfish and making it all about you, when it should be all about Chicago. You’re holding up Chicago’s progress because you are smothering it. Let go. Please.

“Brady ties Quinn to his running mate Blagojevich and Quinn can tie Brady to Cellini the insider businessman. Which do you think is more effective?”

Well considering Quinn distanced himself from Blago long ago while Brady is still having fundraisers hosted by Bill Cellini’s sister Janet (who herself was identified by the feds as an unindicted co-conspirator in the MSI scandal), I’ll say ‘B.’

That list of non-profits being owed money? Must be rather old. I know several of the organizations on the list and those totals are off by up to 50% from the current stats kept by those same organizations. Adding 35%-50% to those totals is much closer to reality. Those groups are already being hit with 2.5% cuts and 3% reserves for this year.

Second part: How big of an organization do you have to be to reasonably expect to handle $1M+ account receivables load for 8 months because your major customer does not pay its bills. For many of these groups, the money owed to them is well over 50% of their entire annual budget. Add on any debt load of loans, mortgages, and contractuals just like any other business. Unless they have enough savings to cover a year of expenses, they have serious business model problems that will get much worse if Fed Stim Medicaid dollars are cut in January.

Rich is right, naturally.
It is too early to celebrate the fact that the Blagojevich trial is over - because it really isn’t. The big question in Illinoisan’s minds is focused on the justice Blagojevich gets.

If Blagojevich’s punishment fits the crime in voter’s minds - then Democrats can perhaps relax a bit. Unless these political insiders know that there are worse stuff that wasn’t exposed during the trial, they shouldn’t act like they are getting away with something, because that is how they are sounding yesterday and today.

The Blagojevich affair isn’t over until voters vote. Thinking that there will be no repercussions at the ballot box is a failure to understand that Rod Blagojevich’s indictment, arrest, impeachment, trial and sentencing hasn’t impacted a single election yet. This isn’t just about accusations of corruption that were, or could have been uncovered during the trial. This is about that, plus, what has happened to the Governor’s Office since the last gubernatorial election.

The George Ryan issue wasn’t resolved until it was voted on in the voting booth. The Blagojevich Saga will remain relevant until this November.

It simply isn’t over.

Finally, CFS - we know for a fact that the entire Sherrod incident wasn’t covered by Fox until after she was forced out of office by the Administration. The only group who jumped the gun here is the Administration. Instead of waiting for the transcript from the NAACP, they panicked and fired an extraordinary lady. Breitbart published video telling those who cared to listen that he did not know the source, and held onto the video since April. Breitbart has been discredited by FoxNews at the same time everyone was discrediting the Obama Administration for not investigating this phoney video.

Like the Administration, you are jumping the gun in accusing someone when the facts clearly disprove your claim.